Nerfetiti's Posts

John Boyega recently shared how Robert Downey Jr. helped him prepare himself for the fame onslaught before Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens rolled out in 2015. At that time, the British actor was not yet a household name, but already had a slew of small roles both on the big and small screen. Downey Jr., on the other hand, has been flying high and enjoying tremendous career success as the Marvel Cinematic Universe founding superhero Iron Man since 2008.

Coming to the big league in Hollywood, Boyega was worried about being blindsided with the effect of the glitz and glamor on actors – especially so for young and upcoming ones like him. Determined not to fall into the trap of being a one hit wonder, the actor took it upon himself to reach out and seek advice from people he thought were able to maintain their core values despite having fame and money from their show business status. His mentorship hunt landed him with Downey Jr., and if there’s anyone to talk to in the business about not being carried away with ambition and ego, the 52-year-old is arguably one of the best out there.

Boyega admitted that prior to his initial contact with the veteran actor, he did not have any personal connections with him whatsoever. In a new cover story for GQ, the 25-year-old revealed that he just took a risk by asking his agent to hook him up with Downey Jr’s agent to see if he could get to meet him. This was just before The Force Awakens was released in theaters and Boyega thought, “it was time for me to sit down with someone who’s been through the extremes of Hollywood and to be given some tips as to how to stay stable.”

While Downey Jr. was obviously a perfect mentor in success and fame management due to his current Hollywood stature, his bad history in the industry, on the other hand, makes him a more dynamic advisor – staging one of the greatest career comebacks in the business. It’s not a secret that for a time, the Chaplin star squandered everything that his younger self had achieved career-wise by partying too much, developing substance abuse habits and ultimately landing in jail. Marvel Studios took a risk by casting him as Iron Man in their pioneering film and fortunately everything paid off – something that he no longer takes for granted.

Now, the two actors operate under the same Disney umbrella (Downey Jr. with Marvel and Boyega with Lucasfilm) – both appearing at the recently held D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. Downey Jr. is currently busy working on Avengers: Infinity War and untitled Avengers 4, reprising his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man for the 8th and 9th time, respectively. Meanwhile, Boyega eventually turned out to be the star that he is supposed to be – becoming one of the key leads of the current Star Wars sequel trilogy. But he does not forget to venture into other projects like appearing in the upcoming Kathryn Bigelow period crime drama, Detroit, as well as, performing on stage as the titular role for the theater play, Woyzeck.

Boyega is set to be back in the shoes of his former Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance fighter character named Finn later this year in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. The film is directed by Rian Johnson and will mark the official return of Mark Hamill as the iconic Jedi Luke Skywalker, as well as, the last outing of Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa before the actress’ untimely passing last year.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is shot with low levels of lighting for a very simple reason: playing with lighting can make some very interesting shadows. The film’s cinematography may be extreme, but it’s a perfect example of how darkness and shadow can emphasize evil, and how light can emphasize good.

More than this, the jagged, twisted lighting literally helps to emphasize the madness within the film; characters are literally trapped in a nightmare. Another point of interest, is that German Expressionist films like Dr. Caligari were filmed in war torn and poor Weimar Germany. Shadows may be effective, but they’re also cheap.

Following the fall of Mussolini, Italy was a broken and depressed country. Vittorio Director De Sica wanted to capture more than just the plight of his protagonists, he wanted to capture the plight of his country. He does so, startlingly, by using static shots that lingerer on depressed buildings and depressed people.

Cinematographer Carlo Montuori used a deep focus to capture the surroundings, making sure that everything was in focus. Frequently we’re presented with stunning photography, but we’re never able to escape from Rome’s squalor and poverty – much the same as the central characters.

The nineteen fifties were the golden years of television; every American household owned one, so why bother go to the cinema? It was a question that film directors had to answer, and answer they did. The Searchers is a glittering example of a film that delivered its audience an experience they’d be unable to replicate in their own living rooms. Its technicolor is inherently beautiful. It’s grand, it’s immersive and it’s obviously vibrantly colorful.

John Ford and his cinematographer Winton C. Hoch pushed the envelope further by filming in a high-res widescreen format known as VistaVision. The Searchers is BIG, and should be viewed in a cinema whenever possible.

Stanley Kubrick was so determined to film certain scenes of Barry Lyndon using natural light, that he went to the length of using camera lenses that had been developed by NASA. Most famously, this allowed Kubrick to film indoor night scenes using only candlelight (try it sometime, it’s near-impossible).

When he did deploy electric light, cinematographer John Alcott went to great lengths to make sure that the lighting looked as natural as possible by using filters. Using natural light (or natural looking light) is a great way of making a film look realistic, but Kubrick and Alcott’s extreme lengths created a particularly please aesthetic that replicated eighteenth century paintings.

Long takes are traditionally used for unintrusive and natural-feeling scenes. John Woo used the long take to devastating effect in the action bonanza Hard Boiled. Modern action films often heavily edit and shake up the action to create a false sense of adrenaline. Cinematographer Wang Wing-Heng does exactly the opposite here.

By using a long, uninterrupted three minute take during the final siege, he enhanced the peri by impressing the critics with just how REAL the chaos looked. Pyrotechnics fly, actors get clobbered, and the audience watches wide-eyed at the action packed brilliance of it all.

Pulp Fiction is told from the point of view of a variety of different characters, using a non-linear narrative (in other words, everything is out of sequence). In order for this to make any sense at all to an audience, Quentin Tarantino tells the story using classic filming conventions. All scenes are filmed with one camera, and most shots are medium or close – never letting us too far aways from the characters that ground the story.

We also regularly see point of view camera angles; especially during dialogue scenes, where we see the conversation played out using the classic shot-reverse-shot technique that switches the point of view between characters. As a result, in a complicated story we’re always firmly connected to the characters’ narrative.

Blood red is a horrible colour. If it’s splashed about too freely on screen, it can inadvertently turn a picture into a video nasty. Saving Private Ryan certainly had a lot blood however, all of the colours were deliberately desaturated, reducing the brightness and adding a blue tint to the picture. The effect made the gore more palatable, while at the same time giving the film the look of an old newsreel (which was entirely appropriate for a film set during World War II).

The action sequences were filmed with a handheld camera, giving the audience a sense that they too were ducking for cover during the gunfire. The beach-landing “stuttery” effects were created by skipping frames. This heightened the sense of trauma and confusion, and really helped to convey a sense of adrenaline to the audience.

Each scene in Gosford Park was shot using two cameras filming simultaneously. Unusually, in each scene the camera is always moving (even if it’s only very subtle movement). Almost everything is kept in focus, and indoor shots have soft lighting spilling in every direction. This allowed the actors to act freely, and complete scenes without the interruption of having to reposition the camera and relight each scene.

Many critics praised the “gliding” quality of Andrew Dunn’s cinematography. The set-up firmly elevates the importance of character interactions within the movie.

In the wrong hands, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind could have been a computer generated special effects bonanza. Instead, Michel Gondry thought small, and used trap doors and quick costume changes to illustrate Joel’s oscillating subconscious.

More than this, he captured the narrative using a handheld camera and made an obviously unreal experience feel like a reality based documentary. Why? As fantastical or distorted as they may be, our memories and our imaginations feel real to us. As a result, many of us not only found Gondry’s film realistic, we also found it nostalgic.

The word cinematography literally means ‘to record movements’. A director relies on their cinematographer to manipulate the mood and implication of a shot.

For example; you might not think that there’d be many ways to film a person walking down a corridor – but what if that corridor had seedy red lighting? What if the person cast a long dark shadow? What if they were walking down the corridor in slow motion?

The smallest change in lighting or lens can create a whole new emphasis and completely change the meaning of a rudimentary action. This list aims to give you a good background on all the cinematographic tricks of the trade.

10. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

What it can teach you about: Length of Shot, Camera Movement

The Bourne Supremacy’s cinematography really tied audiences and film critics in knots. Many loved it, many hated it. Either way, it was enormously influential on films like The Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace.

The Bourne Supremacy was so different because conventional film wisdom would say that you would pan or zoom to set the scene, then after the camera had stopped moving you’d then see an edit that takes you to the next shot.

Not so during The Bourne Supremacy. The movie frequently edits mid camera movement in an effort to disorientate the audience. While editing may be separate from cinematography, the length of a shot is often crucial to what a cinematographer is trying to convey. Cinematographer Oliver Wood created a movie with action sequences that feel wildly jerky, and have a constant sense of chaos and adrenaline as a result.

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The beautiful actress has a mansion, which has its own private office, garden, swimming pool and a state of the art interior. She runs a boutique in Abuja called Fancy Nancy. She has endorsement deals with Bullet and she is an ambassador to the United Nations. She is worth N200 million.

The tall and gorgeous actress marriage to Linus Idahosa cost a whooping £100,000. She has set a high standard for herself and probably one of the most respected actresses in Nollywood. She has lots of endorsements to her credit, which includes, Green valley oatmeal, Kanekalon, Vlisco and Diva Pads. She is the current Regional Maternal Health Ambassador for West and Central Africa by United Nations Population Fund. She is worth over N250 million.

Uche Jombo is a big-time actress and a fantastic producer. In 2008, she earned over N10 million for appearing in various movies. In 2009, she signed with Telecoms giant Glo. She lives in Lekki, Lagos with her husband. She is worth N370 million.

Probably one of the hottest single actress out there, Ini has done well for herself in the industry. She owns six buildings in swift locations around the country. She has huge endorsement deals with INEC, Noble Hair, Chivita, EKO restoration foundation and Glo Nigeria. She drives a Mercedes G-Wagon worth N38 million. Her net worth is N450 million.

Popularly known as Jenifa, Funke has created a brand for herself. She is the producer of popular hit TV series Jenifa’s Diary. She has the endorsement with Jobberman, Klin, Qlichy, Maggi, Lagos Inland Revenue Service, OMO, Iroko Tv and Globacom.

She recently got married to singer, JJC Skillz and launched a record label named “Scene One Records”. She and her beau recently moved to their mansion at Amen Estate, Ibeju Lekki. She is worth N500 million.

Mercy who made her debut in the 2004 movie “The Maid,” is one of the most sought after actresses charging over N2million per movie. Her 6-bedroom Duplex at Ajah has a swimming pool, a roofed car park, terrace, penthouse and a gym. She cruises the streets of Lagos with a Lexus worth N16m and has several landed properties. She is currently serving as a special adviser to the Kogi State Governor. Her total net worth is N600 million.

Probably one of the most popular Nollywood act, Genevieve is a force to reckon with in Nollywood. The singer, fashion designer and delectable actress have starred in lots of successful movies and has juicy endorsement deals to show for it. They include deals with a Range Rover, Etisalat, MUD, Amstel Malta, Lux, Polo and Cintron Energy drink. Her deal with Cintron is worth N50 million, while the one with Polo is worth N70 million and her Etisalat deal is worth N100 million. She cruises the streets of Lagos with a Range Rover Vogue reportedly worth N19 million. She has houses in Ikoyi and Ghana worth several millions bringing her net worth to N850 million.

Star winning actress, Rita Dominic is a popular face and have featured in over 200 movies. She remains one of the consistent actresses in Nollywood who still remain relevant despite being one of the oldest faces in the industry. She is a successful business woman with lots of successful movies to her name. Her many endorsement deals include Nokia, Flat Tummy Tea, Zaron Cosmetics, BK Unique Hair and Telecoms Giant, Glo. She owns Property, Plants and Equipment in tune of N40 million.

Her 2012 movie, The Meeting grossed over N25 million naira at the box office, bringing her total worth to N950 Million.

Mama G has she is fondly called is an A-List Nigerian Actress who has featured in over 250 movies till date.

Patience Ozokwor comes from the humble family of Ngwo. She was born 25th of March 1958. She had her elementary education at Abimbola Gibson Memorial School, Lagos and relocated to Enugu during the civil war crisis.

She had her higher education at Teachers Training College, Afikpo and then proceeded to IMT Enugu where she studied Fine and Applied Arts but majored in Graphics. She taught for five years and then ventured into broadcasting.

She started acting back in Afikpo during the days of her teachers training. Her first acting role was playing William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Her crew did a solid job with the movie that they were invited, all around the Southeastern Nigeria to re-stage the play. She achieved huge popularity from the play to the extent that people started calling her Hamlet.

Patience got married at 19 and worked with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Enugu but was retrenched when all medium wave band stations were shut down. Leaving her shortfall behind she proceeded to another broadcasting facility where she began acting in radio dramas.

She got her big break after featuring in a commercial. Chief Zebrudaya of New Masquerades had called her over to be part of the commercial which was being produced by the Anambra Government. The aim of the commercial was to discourage citizens from going into a trade without acquiring education. She played the wife of Pete Eneh in the commercial.

The commercial was a hit and then she achieved lots of popularity. Pete Eneh would later cast her in a lead role for his television series Someone Cares. Some A-list Nollywood stars who were on the series were impressed with her acting skills.

She received celebrity status after working on the 1999 movie, Authority.

Unfortunately for her, she lost her husband some years back.

Patience Ozokwor is being referred to as Mother Africa because she always plays a mother figure in almost all her movies and serves as a role model for young girls across Africa.